A community thriving on ‘Godanam’ (donation of cow) can be seen on the outskirts of Kagazmaddur village in Medak district. Despite having a number of cows, they do not collect milk as they leave it for calves.
The Gangireddula community has dedicated itself to protecting ‘Desi’ cows. Battula Narasimhulu of the community has about ten cows, all of them donated to him. Every year, he gets four to five cows in the form of Godanam.
It’s a practice followed by many communities till today where people donate cows when someone in their family expires. The members of Gangireddula community treat cows as next to god, which is also the reason for they not selling it.
“Cow is our source of income. Once a cow comes to us, it will be with us till it dies,” says Battula Narsamma, a relative of Narsimhulu. This small community alone has about 400 cattle. “I got an oxen when it was three months old and now it has fully grown and I can take it for house visits during festivals,” said Ambaiah, another resident of Kagazmaddur village. “We also nurture dogs so that they can protect our cows at night. We sell cow dung to farmers and that fetches us Rs. 1,000 per tractor,” said Baikani Yellaiah, a member of the community.
